Loving Your Lies

by Shelly, Piper

  “Yeah, I think I will,” Julian replied with a grin but without turning away from me.

  “She just invited you to eat with us.” As though it was the most natural thing in the world to have an angel sitting at the breakfast table. “How come she remembers you?”

  “You opened the gate.” He shrugged. “And everyone affected will accept me as part of their life again.”

  Mind swimming, I gave him a pointed stare. “My aunt doesn’t wonder where you came from all of a sudden?”

  “She knows me as her older sister’s caretaker. As far as she remembers, I left shortly after the funeral on another assignment. She doesn’t doubt I’m real.” He walked toward me at a seductive pace, his chin low and fire sparkling in his eyes. “So why do you?”

  I reached out, almost expecting him to draw back like he had done so many times in my dreams. But he moved closer and let me feel the smooth skin of his face. I skimmed my fingers over his cheeks, his lips, down his neck and shoulders.

  “You feel so real. Totally alive. Even though I couldn’t remember, I waited for this moment all these months.” Feeling his firm biceps, I ran my hands lower and finally laced them with his. “And now you’re here, and I hardly dare trust my eyes.”

  “You’d better believe it, babe. Because it makes this feel so much better.” And the next instant his lips took mine in a slow, thrilling kiss. My palms pressed against the wall as I surrendered to him. His tongue delved into my mouth. My knees gave way, but he steadied me with his body pushing against mine.

  Kissing a path along my jaw, he purred into my ear. “Until the sun sets tonight I will still be an angel. It is up to you to decide by then whether you want me to stay—or leave again.”

  Huh? Stop kidding me, angel! “Can I make that decision now? I want you to stay!”

  One corner of his mouth lifted in my favorite lopsided smile. “I hoped you would say that. So after sundown, I’ll lose my angel powers and spend this life with you as ordinary Julian.” He nibbled my earlobe. “But before that happens, there is something I’ve wanted to do with you for a very long time.” His fingers found the first button of his shirt to open it.

  “What?” I croaked, pressing harder against the wall behind me. “Make love to me?”

  His fingers went down from one button to the next, revealing his strong chest to my gaping eyes. “That, too.” A rascally grin flashed across his face. “But it will have to wait for another moment.”

  Over his shoulder, I spotted Marie pouring coffee into a cup, only that the stream didn’t stop. She suddenly seemed frozen in time. My unbelieving gaze moved back to Julian, who had dropped his shirt to the floor. Behind him the air wavered until a jet of light emerged. Two marvelous, wide wings appeared and hovered at his sides.

  Their sight robbed the air from my lungs.

  One arm behind my knees and the other planted firmly on my back, Julian swept me up. Mischief sparked in his deep blue eyes. His warm breath brushed my face. “Are you ready for a sky-dive?”

  Head tilted back, I laughed out loud. “Bring it on, angel.”

  Get a sneak peek into Piper Shelly’s high school romance,

  Play with me

  A novella all about first love and soccer

  Ryan Hunter’s parties are legend.

  And tonight she’s going to be there.

  Liza Matthews anticipates the return of her best friend and only love since kindergarten from soccer camp. But when Tony finally shows up, his mind is more focused on another girl. And worse, she’s a soccer player. Fighting for the attention Liza craves, she’s just a hairbreadth away from making a very stupid decision. But when extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, she’s prepared to play ball to get her man.

  The tryouts are hell, the first match ends bloody, and the morning after the selection party she wakes up in the worst place possible—in the arms of the captain of the soccer team. The hottest guy in school. Ryan Hunter.

  I opened my eyes to stare at the sensual lips of Ryan Hunter.

  My hand on his naked chest rose and fell with his slow, even breaths. Holy cow, what the hell happened? I was in bed with the captain of the soccer team. Heck, I should have never gone to that party.

  My only thought was run. But shock kept me pinned to the bed as I became aware of our entangled position. At least I was still wearing my top and shorts. I didn’t move, frantically running through the options I had. Great, there were none.

  As if my eyes had their own mind, they traveled down his gorgeous body, then back up to his neck and the part of his face not covered with his arm. He sported an overnight shadow that begged to be rubbed. I resisted.

  Suddenly his lips twitched. “I can feel you staring at me.”

  My breath caught in my chest.

  “I only hope you’re a girl and not one of the drunken guys.” Not taking his arm away from his face, he reached down with his other hand…and slowly ran his palm over my naked thigh in the direction of my bum. “Yep, definitely female.”

  In panic, I grabbed his hand. “Move another inch, Hunter, and you’re a dead man.”

  A huge thank you to:

  Silvia Federer, my best friend in the world, for listening to my endless ramblings about my writing endeavors at our weekly coffee-rounds, especially when writing and reading were so not her thing; Daniel Fellsner, for believing in my project from the first moment and encouraging me with brotherly advice; And to my creative critique partners: Zrinka, who hung in there with me from the first to the very last page. Lynda—I’m so glad I met you, girl. Danyelle and Mary, my first beta readers. And, of course, Melissa; thank you for your enthusiasm and our invaluable brainstorming sessions.

  And finally, my love and gratitude goes to Johann, my amazing husband, and our wonderful son, Kevin. I know you two had to share me with my imaginary friends way too long, and I can’t promise you that it will ever change for the better. But without your patience and support, this dream would still be just that. A dream. Thank you for helping it to come true. I’m grateful every day that you’re part of my life.

  About the Author

  PIPER SHELLY prefers blue to green, spring to winter, and writing to talking. But then she prefers writing to almost everything else. It helps her to escape from a boring world to something with actual adventure and romance in it, she says. Even when she’s not crafting a new story, you’ll see her lounging with a book in some quiet spot. She was 17 when she left Vienna to live in the tranquil countryside of Austria, and from there she loves to plan trips to anywhere in the world. Two of her favorite places? Disneyland and the deep dungeons of her creative mind.

  Please visit her website at www.pipershelly.com or write to pipershelly@hotmail.com

  She would love to hear from you!